Joe Devance has played hurt in Ginebra's semis series against Star. Jerome Ascano

BARANGAY Ginebra is facing the prospect of missing Joe Devance for the first two games of PBA Philippine Cup Finals against San Miguel Beer.

The Gin Kings veteran forward, who missed the press launch of the finals on Wednesday, has been nursing a foot injury, forcing him to take pain-killing injections before and at halftime of their recent semifinal games against Star.

“If he plays, he still has to continue to take shots to numb his foot, and I’m kind of not okay with that anymore,” Gin Kings coach Tim Cone admitted. “I think we’ve done that enough and it bothers my conscience that he’s doing that to his foot.”

“So right now, we’re debating on resting him for a couple of games before he comes back,” he added. “We won’t know that for sure until we take a look at what happens today and tomorrow and see where he is.”

Devance also missed the first two games of the series against the Hotshots, before playing hurt the rest of the series.

“We’re watching him taking those shots and it’s not fun,” Cone recounted. “He’s taking the shots directly into the foot. It’s been an incredibly courageous thing for him to do, but I’m a little worried that we might be doing more damage than good in the long run for him.”

“So we have to make a decision for him whether we allow him to still do it,” he added. “That’s still up in the air.”